White House releases president's long-form birth certificate

The White House this morning released President Obama's so-called "long-form" birth certificate. It shows he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Aug. 4, 1961 at 7:24 pm. It is signed by his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, the attending doctor, and registrar.

An image of President Obama's longer-form birth certificate released today by the White House.

During the campaign, Obama released a shorter version, a "Certification of Live Birth," which serves as the official document released by the state of Hawaii and recognized by the federal government. It's the document Hawaiians, for example, would use to get a passport.

This conspiracy theory has been debunked by several news organizations, including NBC News, but it has gained new life as Donald Trump, considering a Republican bid for president, has essentially campaigned on the issue.

This morning at a news conference, Trump took credit for the release of the document.

"Today I'm very proud of myself, because I've accomplished something that no one else has been able to accomplish," Trump said in New Hampshire, adding, "Our president has finally released a birth certificate. I want to look at it, but I hope it's true. ... But he should have done it a long time ago. ... But I am really honored to have played such a big role in hopefully, hopefully, getting rid of this issue."

This issue has been popular with a fringe portion of the conservative base, but recent polling showed that two-thirds of Republicans said either the president wasn't born in the United States or aren't sure.

In a CBS/New York Times poll released Thursday, 45% of Republicans said they believe Obama was born outside the U.S., while 22% said they didn't know, and just 33% said he was born in the country.

A majority of all Americans, however, believe the president was born in the country. 57% said he was, 25% said they believe he wasn't. 18% said they weren't sure.